Apple’s iPhone has been very proud to publicise the fact that it has an ‘app’ for everything.Now, luckily for our furry friends, it seems there’s even an app for pet health care. For pet owners who prefer to use mobile phones than computers for sourcing information this is great news.

The applications are all created very much with pet owners wanting quick, concise pet health care information in mind.One app is called the Pet First Aid App and is a very handy collection of quick and simple pieces of pet health care advice for several animals. The app also offers advice on how to perform physical checks on your pet to help you figure out what the problem might be. There is also a very informative ‘what’s normal’ area which allows pet owners to check to see if they should be concerned about a symptom or behaviour.

An app which works in a similar fashion to the first aid application is the mobile symptom checker. Working in a similar way to its human counterpart, the NHS direct website, users can search any symptoms their pet is showing by category.

To help pet owners to keep up to date with their animal’s pet health care records there is a Vet Records app. Medical information is inputted and medical treatment can be tracked. This app might sound like it is doing the work of the vet, but it could come in handy if the animal has to receive treatment from any other vet, such as if they were on holiday.

The Pet Services finder app is great for pet health care enthusiasts. A sort of cross between Google search and the phone book, it points pet owners in the direction of almost any animal service in the local area, such as vets and dog walkers.

Other popular pet and pet health care related apps include an Off the Leash app which gives dog owners suggestions of interesting walks which are pet friendly and a Veterinary Dictionary which helps to clear up some of the confusing terms vets use.

In all, it is certainly true that today’s app technology is going a long way to making pet health care information more accessible to everyone.

Pet owners believe different things about their cat health care and dog health care practices, but not all of them are true, so it is worth evaluating what is right and what isn’t before its too late. As a nation, we love our pets, but when it comes to looking after them properly and knowing the truth, we don’t always get it right.

Misconception 1: If I have my dog or cat neutered or spayed, this will make it lazy

People actually get very confused about neutering and spaying and some believe it has pet health implications. Some think that neutering makes the animal fat and lazy, but this is only the case if you feed it more. Don’t misconstrue laziness for loyalty though, as dogs and cats tend to prefer to stay close to you when they have been neutered. In truth though, people do fear that neutering and spaying can shorten an animal’s life, but there is nothing to back this up at the moment.

Misconception 2: My dog knows when it has been bad, but it doesn’t learn.

How wrong can people be? Some dogs do not know when they have been badly behaved and they will continue to misbehave if they don’t get appropriately informed that what they have done is wrong. The best way to tell your dog it has done something wrong is to make sure it gets pointed out. Pro-active training like this is good. Try and shift your voice to sound angry rather than getting high-pitched as this relates too closely to happy sounds. Never hit a dog though. No pet owner should lay a hand to a dog and think that it is an acceptable part of dog health care; for it quite simply isn’t. The same applies to any mistreating of cats and kittens – this is not good cat health care.

Check with a vet if you are concerned about something not being accurate with your dog health care and cat health care practices. As an expert in the field, a vet will be able to advise you about what is right and wrong with dog or cat health care.